Deserters
by AdamLL
Summary: The job of a Tracker is to hunt and kill Deserters.  Tristan had vowed to join the army, why then was he regretting this decision?  Tristan will be left with a big decision, will he follow his heart or fall in line with what his nation wants him to do?
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: This is a story that just popped into my head today. I really like the concept and I hope others will too. This story is about Tristan, a simple farm boy who is thrown into a war through the tragic death of his family. He is not put in the job he wanted, but he can't turn back now.

Characters Introduced in first chapter:

Tristan: main character. Good with bow and confident with throwing knives. Life on the farm has strengthened him for combat. He has dark brown hair, blue eyes, and is 17 at the start of the story.

Trent: Tristan's father. Tristan really looks up to his father and learned all his skill with a bow from him. He has dark red hair and kept it in a ponytail. He has brown eyes and has a past in the army.

Garnet: Tristan's mother. Garnet was beautiful by everyone's standards and had the most gentle and melodious voice in the town. She had long dark flowing brown hair and was good with medicine and herbs. She would help the sick and the weak. She had blue eyes. She taught Tristan how to ride a horse.

Millet: Tristan's sister. She was adept as a mage. She could ride a horse better than Tristan. She had long red hair that was the envy of every girl in town. She had the most beautiful green eyes. She was 11 years old.

Kaid: Tristan's best friend after he enlists. He is proficient with a sword and is only in this to raise money for his family. His father died fighting in the last war leaving his mother to starve herself to feed him and his two sisters. He has black hair and is built. He has gray eyes like no other person Tristan has ever seen.

DESERTERS

_There is a group in the army that isn't dedicated to fighting the enemy but to hunting; hunting those that run from the war. These people are called deserters. They enlisted to fight but then ran away from duty. It is against the law and it is the job of this special group called the Trackers to find and kill them. They don't like to call it killing though. They are taught that their job is to bring these cowards to justice. This is the account of Tristan. He is a member of the Trackers._

"Tristan!" A familiar voice called my name. I slowly started to wake up from a very quick nap. We were always on the move. We are trackers, that is what we do. You think I would have been used to zero sleep by now.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm gettin up!" My closest friend in this group, Kaid shook me.

"We ain't waitin no more Trist, ya lazy fool!"

My eyes were so tired I could barely keep them open. "I'm up!" I yelled annoyed because I felt like we just stopped to rest and now we are already on the move. This life of tracking was taking its toll. I had no choice in the matter. I was a good shot and had skills in hunting. I wasn't used to hunting people though. I ask myself sometimes why I even joined the army but the nightmares remind me.

It was only a year and a half ago when I lost everything. The Mildoans invaded our land and began killing citizen and destroying villages. I was out hunting with my father and when we came back we could see smoke. It was our house and barn burning. I wanted to run toward it but my father told me to stay quiet and hidden while he went back. I did what I was told.

He left me and I stayed hidden even though I heard his screams and wails of pain. I knew that I would never see him again. I closed my ears and rocked back and forth until the screaming stopped. How badly I wanted to drown out the screams! After about an hour of sitting there in the darkness and crying I walked up to the farm. All of our livestock was taken. I came upon my father's body first. It was mutilated beyond recognition. They must have taken their time torturing him. How strong he must have been through the pain. Beside him just a little ways past was my mother. Her beautiful face was bruised and unrecognizable. Her long brown hair was matted because I assumed they grabbed a hold of it and used it to drag her out of the house. Then the worst came, my young sister Milly was dead. She was naked and her body was bruised all over. She was innocent! We all were! I held her small hand and put my jacket over her. I know it didn't do anything to warm her but I just wanted her to be in comfort. I held her hand in mine. It was so small and frail.

"What did we do! Why us!"

I buried my whole family that day, but not before I lay with them and told them this was all a dream, that we would play together in the fields and do the chores. When it was time for bed mother would sing Milly and I a song. I wanted so bad for it to be all a horrible nightmare. It wasn't though. After I had buried them I made a vow that I would join the army and kill as many Mildoan soldiers as I could. I said a prayer for them and went to the capital to enlist.


	2. Chapter 2

When The Soil Turned Red

The next person on the list was a pair of brothers, both young in age that fled from battle. We assume that they are at their house hiding from the army. I am not looking forward to this. I want to be killing the enemy, not my own kind.

During my training they drilled into our head that these people deserved to be killed on the spot for their coward behavior. Other people in my group don't have a problem with it, besides Kaid and me. We never make the kill. I always track them down and wound them. I hope the time never comes for me to have to kill the deserters because I don't know if I could do it. So far we have only killed four people on the list. All of them were older men who didn't agree with the king. I just know they had families they wanted to go back to.

That is why I am such good friends with Kaid. He doesn't want to kill either. He is only doing this to feed his family. The money he makes goes to his mother and two sisters. I am proud of him and look up to him as an older brother. We usually hunt together for the others. I am the only bow specialist in the group, so I am training Kaid how to wield a bow too. The other day he finally got a rabbit. He ruined the meat though because he shot the body and not the head. He was so proud though.

After we starting moving to the brothers suspected location the leader of the group, Wrath, spoke to Kaid and I.

"You two need to start shedding some blood for the group! We all know you two get the food for us, but you ain't gettin paid to cook!"

Our worst fears were coming true. We didn't want to kill them. They would probably be our ages. Kaid gave a forced laugh and nodded. I couldn't muster it though. Instead I made a challenge, which was stupid.

"How about we keep doing what we do best and you stick to the killing. Then we could all be happy."

Wrath did not take this well. He ran over got right in my face and lifted me up by my shirt.

"Listen here boy! You ain't gonna talk to me that way! What I say goes in this group and you are makin this next kill!"

The anger in his eyes fueled me.

"I'll do it."

I looked away from his gaze frustrated I couldn't do anything. He released his grip and my legs buckled underneath me because I wasn't ready to catch myself. The other men laughed and Kaid helped me up.

"Don't let them make fun of you. We are much better'en these guys."

After a week's walk we made it to their house. When we arrived a woman was out front she had a little girl beside her helping with the laundry. She looked afraid as soon as she saw us. She grabbed her daughter and said something quietly to her. The little girl looked at us. Our eyes met and it was like looking at Milly. She had the same sweet face and innocent eyes. I almost wanted to cry. She ran into the house. Wrath walked up to her.

"We are looking for two boys by the name of Eli and Levi, would you happen to know of them miss?"

She kept going about her business and quietly replied. "I do know of them but the army took them away from me and my husband and we haven't heard from them since."

Wrath nodded and laughed. "You hear that boys? We got ourselves a little actress. We know they are here wench now don't make this hard and just tell us where they are!"

A man with a cane stepped onto the porch. "Leave her alone! They aren't here!"

"Shut up old man! We will just see about that."

Wrath grabs a hold of the women's hair and drags her out into the yard. She started screaming and pleading for her husband.

"Unless you want your precious mother to be killed you better come out boys!"

I was horrified. This is not what we were trained to do. These boys have a family and they were forced to fight.

The woman was sobbing by now. The old man came at Wrath with his cane. Wrath punched the woman aside and stabbed his sword into the stomach of the older man.

I screamed out without realizing it. "Stop!" I ran to the man's side.

"What are you doing Tristan, you fool? The man shouldn't have moved. Now he is going to die."

I held the man in my arms. "This isn't our job! Where does it say we kill innocent people? Tell me!" I looked at the man. His eyes were fixed on me. "Thank….you…young..ma..n." He slowly drifted away.

Wrath was furious. "Kaid, Brom! Grab the wench!" He stormed to my side and backhanded me to the ground. "I am warning you Tristan! One more mistake and you will be killed."

By this time the little girl was back she ran to her mother's side.

"Perfect." Wrath said grinning. "I guess you boys are just gonna keep hiding while we kill your little sister and mother."

I was in pure shock. What have I become. We were monsters. Is this what I chose? I was a murderer if I let this happen.

"Kaid start breaking her fingers. Brom make the little girl scream."

Kaid looked at me. He had tears in his eyes. He had to do it or we would die along with them. Slowly and agonizingly we had to hear the screams of the mother and daughter as Kaid broke her fingers one by one. The little girl just wouldn't stop screaming.

Just like Wrath planned the boys came running.

"Momma! Lara!"

I looked away as Kel threw his spear into the first boy. He died instantly. The other boy stopped and tried to turn back. Wrath personally ran after him and sliced his neck from behind. It was all over.

Kaid let go of the mother and she just collapsed. What else was there for her? She wouldn't be able to take care of herself and this young girl. She crawled towards their bodies.

Wrath laughed evilly. "They shouldn't have run away like cowards. This could have all been prevented."

She looked at him. "You are a monster! The evil shall get their just reward."

Wrath kicked her in the face and we started to leave them. I thought the nightmare was over but then Wrath looked at me and smiled.

"I remember sayin that Tristan was supposed to have the kill this time. He didn't kill anyone, so you have two people over there to choose from."

I couldn't believe what I heard. I wasn't going to do it.

"No! She didn't do anything!"

"Boy! It is either her or you!

Crum and Jud grabbed their axes and held them to my neck. Part of me just wanted to let it happen. Just end it here so I could join my family, but weakness overcame me. This decision is what I am most disappointed with in my life.

They put a sword into my hand. I walked over and I looked back. They had spears ready if I tried to break for it. The little girl was looking at me and I couldn't take it.

"I will only do it if we spare this girl and we take her with us to the next town so someone can look after her."

I took the sword in my hands asked for forgiveness and stabbed the unconscious woman through the heart. I hoped it was painless for her since she was unconscious. I grabbed the little girl into my arms and we went off. I went over to Kaid and we began to formulate our escape plan. We would be the very thing we were trained to kill. I didn't care in the least about the war anymore. The only thing I cared about was getting Kaid, Lara, and I out of this alive.


	3. Chapter 3

Authors note: So I haven't been getting any feedback (besides GunLord, thanks) so I am assuming this story sucks, but I am going to keep writing because I like it…..anyway character update.

Wrath: leader of the Trackers. He deals with axes, spears, and swords. He is a ruthless leader and drives Tristan and Kaid to consider being Deserters themselves. He is in his late thirties and has black hair. Bigger in build but not fat.

Kel: The spear specialist of the group. He is the most capable of throwing and hitting far targets. Tristan is most worried about escaping his range when they make their escape. He is in his mid twenties with blonde hair. Slender in figure and a fast runner.

Crum: Green haired axe fighter. Stronger of the two and older.

Jud: Brown haired axe fighter. Missing an eye, but that doesn't take away from his skill and strength.

Brom: A young blue haired man that enjoys torture. You don't want to mess with this guy. He deals with getting people to talk and torture methods.

Onan: The oldest member of the group. He helped Tristan enlist and was like a father figure in the group. He has a wife and three children back home.

Tristan: He has made a choice and isn't afraid to admit he is scared. He feels he owes Lara his life.

Kaid: Tristan's best friend and partner in crime. He decides to go along with Tristan and do whatever he has to to survive.

Lara: the young girl that was sister to Eli and Levi. Her family was slaughtered in front of her own eyes and Tristan decided to take her along with the group out of pity and guilt. She has the ability to heal, but she needs staves to do so. She also has a gifted singing ability that can restore energy.

Escape Plan

It had been two days and Lara had still not said a word. She would eat little of what food we gave her but she would never talk. The only reaction we got from her was her death glare at me. Who could blame her? I killed her mother and she had nothing left in this world.

We had to be careful how we acted since that incident. We couldn't let on that we were upset in anyway and Lara made that difficult. Wrath was very suspicious. I could tell he wanted us to do something so he could kill us. The plan Kaid and I came up with was going to be difficult to pull off. We want to escape at a good time where we can find shelter and not have to kill any of them. As much as I hate Wrath, I don't hate the others. I have actually become friends with Kel, Jud, Brom, and Crum, even though they were all ready to kill me and Kaid if we didn't follow orders. I wanted to try to get Onan to go with us. He is older and I feel I could trust him to help us somehow.

That night I pulled him aside.

"Hey Onan, can we talk for a bit?"

The older man smiled and the wrinkles from hard days on the farm showed.

"Yeah, what's on your mind son?"

"Did you approve of the actions of the group at that last house?"

He paused for a long time and sighed.

"You can't do it Tristan. You can't do the right thing all the time. If you run away now you will be running your whole life. Even after the war they hunt down deserters. It is better to die doing what's wrong then putting yourself and family in danger doing the right thing."

"I don't have any family Onan. I am all that I have. I have to protect this girl. If this is how my country treats its people then I don't want any part of it! We are supposed to be afraid of the enemy not our own! I don't expect you to go with us, but just take it easy on us when we run. I don't want to put your family in danger so sorry I asked. Thanks for being a father when I didn't have one."

Onan pulled Tristan close and hugged him.

"You are a good kid Trist. I hope my two sons grow up to be like you."

We parted but I couldn't help but feel sorry I even put him in that situation. Why am I such a coward? I should have just died that day instead of killing that woman. I went back to my tent and Kaid and Lara were already asleep. I said a prayer like I always do before I sleep and drifted off. I always have three dreams that keep repeating night after night. One is the day my family died, the other is when my mom taught me how to ride my horse. She loved horses and was known as the fastest rider of our town. I remember I was so scared but she held me close to her and I never felt afraid after that. She had that effect on people, when she touched you, you felt safe and secure. Nothing in the world would or could hurt you. The third dream would be about my family all singing together during our chores.

I woke up suddenly that night but it wasn't because of a dream or nightmare, but because someone had a knife to my throat. I couldn't see who is was, but I had a good feeling. My eyes slowly began to adjust to the dark and it was Lara leaning over me with a knife against my throat.

I felt tears hitting my face. I knew she was crying. "Do it." I said calmly.

She held it closer. "I would love nothing more." She hesitated.

I began to say it a little louder. "It is only fair, do it, I took your life away."

Kaid woke up. "Hey whats going on! Don't do it Lara!"

She was glaring right at me. She didn't have a look of anger, but a look of pleading.

"Why can't I do it! I just want to kill you!"

She groaned and threw the knife on the ground. "I can't even avenge my family."

Kaid quickly grabbed the knife and put it away.

I sat up looked her straight in the eye and made her a promise. "We will avenge your family and after I have saved you, you can kill me. We will be even."

Lara looked away and quietly said "It won't bring them back, but I will accept your offer."

I grabbed her hand and surprisingly she didn't jerk away. "We are in this until the end. I want us three to live through this war."

Kaid nodded and smiled. Lara didn't form a smile, but nodded also.

Starting tomorrow we would begin our escape.


End file.
